1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input apparatus for mobile phone with a dial wheel, and more particularly to an input apparatus for mobile phone with a dial wheel and two function keys for facilitating the number dialing, short-message editing and menu selecting for user.
2. Description of Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a prior art mobile phone with a plurality keys. The operations such as number dialing, short-message editing and menu selecting are performed by pressing the keys on the mobile phone. For example, if a number “109” is to be dialed, the user moves his finger to a key “1” and presses the key “1”, then moves his finger to a key “0” and presses the key “0”, and then moves his finger to a key “9” and presses the key “9”. Finally, the user presses a dial key to dial the number “109”.
The next example is exemplified for editing the message “down”. The user first moves his finger to the key corresponding to the letter “d”, i.e., the key “3” and presses the key consecutively until the letter “d” appears on the screen of the mobile phone. The user then moves his finger to the key corresponding to the letter “o”, i.e., the key “6” and presses the key consecutively until the letter “o” appears on the screen of the mobile phone. Afterward, the user moves his finger to the key corresponding to the letter “w”, i.e., the key “9” and presses the key consecutively until the letter “w” appears on monitor of the mobile phone. Finally, the user moves his finger to the key corresponding to the letter “n”, i.e., the key “6” and presses the key consecutively until the letter “n” appears on the screen of the mobile phone.
For the operation of menu selecting, the conventional mobile phone provides a specific key to activate a menu. Afterward, a user can use an up-direction key and a down-direction key to move a highlighted bar to a specific menu item and then presses another key to select this item.
As can be seen from above description, the operations such as number dialing, short-message editing and menu selecting rely on key operation on the mobile phone.
However, as the mobile phones become more and more compact, the operations through keys thereon may cause problem of typing error.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,181, a mobile phone having a dial wheel is disclosed. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,964, a mobile phone having a dial wheel is disclosed to browse web pages on the mobile phone.
However, in above-mentioned two patents, the wheel cannot be used alone to input short message and to dial number, which is still inconvenient to users.